Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced on Monday evening that it would ban socialist former President Evo Morales from participating in the August 17 general elections after authorities rejected his last-minute, irregular presidential candidacy.
Morales, who has spent most of the year eluding an arrest warrant on charges of pedophilia and statutory rape, has been attempting to run for president for a fifth term despite the Bolivian constitution explicitly establishing a two-term limit for the office. Morales availed himself of several dubious legal loopholes and court rulings to bypass the term limit and rule Bolivia for four continuous terms between 2006 and 2019. That year, he voluntarily resigned from the presidency and fled to Mexico alongside most of his cabinet after evidence of fraud was found in his unconstitutional fourth electoral “victory.”
Last week, Bolivia’s Constitutional Court unanimously ratified once again that Morales is term-limited and thus unable to run for president of Bolivia. Morales’ legal team immediately responded by claiming that they “do not care” what the court says.
On Monday, the last day of the TSE-established period for candidate registrations ahead of the elections, the pro-Morales organization Evo-Pueblo attempted to register him as a presidential candidate under the Bolivian National Action Party (PAN-BOL), a political organization whose legal status has been cancelled and which cannot register candidates or participate in elections.
“They know that Evo-Pueblo is not a party with valid legal status and PAN-BOL has its legal status cancelled, therefore, they cannot register candidates,” TSE Secretary Fernando Arteaga stressed.
Morales and his main lawyer, Wilfredo Chávez, have responded with conflicting statements. Morales claimed on Tuesday that the Evo-Pueblo organization “met the requirements and deadlines established” and allegedly presented his registration through TSE’s online platform. The physical documentation, Morales further claimed, was allegedly delivered to TSE’s offices “with the intervention of a Notary Public.”
Chávez instead claimed on Monday evening that the candidate lists were sent to the TSE “via e-mail, but the digital registration system used by the other parties was not used.” Arteaga explained to reporters that TSE’s online registry platform can only be accessed by political parties with good legal standing, which Evo-Pueblo and PAN-BOL are not.
Morales loyalists have previously threatened to prevent the election from happening if Morales is not allowed to run. On Monday, hours before the end of the registry deadline, the Morales loyalists further threatened a “revolution in the streets” if Morales is not allowed to run.
“Do not attack our rights. From zero hours of this Tuesday, May 20, we have to start organizing. If they [allow to] register him, to take care of our candidate in the TSE system until June 6 and if they don’t, to organize ourselves for ‘the revolution in the streets’ in all the national territory,” an unnamed Morales loyalist reportedly told local media.
Morales’ years-long attempts to unconstitutionally reinstate himself as president of Bolivia prompted an leftist power struggle between Morales and his former protegé and successor, socialist current President Luis Arce, over control of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, which has ruled Bolivia for almost 20 years.
The ongoing power struggle, and Arce’s disastrous socialist administration, has effectively fractured MAS. Arce announced last week that he will not seek reelection and instead urged the fractured MAS party to unite by choosing a candidate “who has the best profile to confront the right.”
MAS announced over the weekend that Minister of Government Eduardo Del Castillo will be the ruling party’s presidential candidate in August. Del Castillo stepped down from his Ministerial position and was replaced by Deputy Citizen Security Minster Roberto Ríos on Monday.
Leftist Senator Andrónico Rodríguez, widely described as a younger “apprentice” and “heir” of Morales despite his alleged efforts to distance himself from him, also presented his presidential candidacy, but it remains unclear at press time if it will be accepted as the Third System Movement (MTS) party, which is part of his alliance, must wait for a court ruling on Wednesday. María Maziel Terrazas Merino, a former MTS member, filed an injunction against the party regarding accusations that she was allegedly expelled over the party’s directive to sign a candidacy agreement with Rodríguez.
“We alert all our social organizations across the country that some members of the departmental constitutional chambers are playing with fire, because their illegal actions clearly demonstrate their subservience to political pressure,” Rodríguez said on social media.
“They must be aware that they are putting the general elections at serious risk. We ask them to act within their powers, without giving in to external pressure,” he continued.
According to the TSE, over 2,500 candidates presented their respective candidacies for president and other offices. Every party reportedly registered about 350 candidates each for the upcoming elections. TSE will review the applications and present a finalized list of eligible candidates on June 6. Bolivian businessman Samuel Doria Medina will run as the presidential candidate of the “Unity Alliance,” a coalition of anti-MAS opposition parties. On Monday, Doria Medina presented economist José Luis Lupo as his running mate.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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